Clutch Failure

[Guest Jameslark]

Just went out this afternoon in the glorious sun we are enjoying and all went well until I stopped at a friends house for a cuppa. Went to get back in the car and no clutch. Pedal had gone soft and there seems to be no pull. No nasty bangs on anything so I am hoping a the end has come off at the gearbox. I have checked the top and all well with nipple still in place. Is it best to start with cable or am I looking at a total clutch failure which means new and hours and hours of work as I feel sure the engine will have to come out to get to it - you can tell I am new to this game.

 

May well start with a new cable and would like some advice as to best place to get one and best length. 2.0 litre Pinto with Type 9 box.

 

At least I managed to start her in gear and get home rather than call out the dreaded recovery truck.

 

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

[Guest mower man]

Has the pawl onthe quadrant failed [presuming you have asierra pedal set up ] HTH mower man

[Guest Jameslark]

Yes I have a Sierra pedal set up. Have checked the pawl on the quadrant. The pawl is right down at the bottom of the ratchet section on the quadrant. I managed to free the pawl off and it returned to its original position. Seems the cable still has tension in it albeit not much so really need to get some more adjustment out of it to bring the bite point up on the pedal. Any ideas anyone?

[Foz]

Have a look at the post "Melting Clutch Cable" in the engine section from a couple of day ago. Don't know if this is what's happened to yours but the answers might help. Steve

[Guest gdc]

SOUNDS LIKE THE FORD ADJUSTER RATHER THAN THE CLUTCH

sorry shouting

sorted now . prob is prob the ratchet side of the sierra pedal box .

 

graham

[Guest Jameslark]

Managed to get a new quadrant and also a new cable. The old cable seems OK to me and not melted and free runs through the sleeving. The clutch fork has a fair amount of slop in it and only tightens up when you put the cable tension on it. How much play should there be in an ideal world?

Also trying to get the pedal shaft out to renew the quadrant and having taken out split pin I presume you have to drift it out or is it a more subtle method? I have tried turning,pulling and tentatively bashing all with no result. HELP!!!

 

Any ideas and suggestions would be much appreciated

[johnlrichardson]

When fitted to the sierra its easier to remove the pedal assembly to fit

 

HTH jon

[IanS]

Having recently replaced the quadrent after removing the Cclip (sorry I work for a US campany) it just slid out after releasing tension on the pawl by pulling the clutch pedal fully back.

I had the pedal assembly removed from the car to do this.

I fitted the black quadrent (escort I think) as this gives more cable movement than the yellow one fitte as standard to sierras.

I also at build fitted a spacer (a stack of washers) to the bulkhead to give some more pre movement to the cable.

The actuator arm in the bellhousing is only mounted over a ball ended pin and has lots of freedom to move as standard when the cable is not attached.

 

Ian

[Longboarder]

How much play should there be in an ideal world?

None.The spring on the pedal ratchet should tension the cable which holds the release arm and thus the release bearing up against the fingers of the clutch diaphragm under tension. Not enough tension to operate the clutch or make it slip but enough to stop rattles and ensure there is no free play between pedal and diaphragm.

If the quadrant and ratchet on the pedal are working properly then the ratchet is lifted off the teeth of the quadrant when the clutch pedal is not pressed, allowing the quadrant to rotate to take up any slack. There are a few millimeters of pedal movement when the cable does not move as the ratchet drops back into the quadrant as you start to press the clutch but it's not free play in the system.

If you have freeplay then you need to make sure the quadrant is working properly and possibly space the cable (effectively lengthen the outer with spacers) to take up the slack.

 

Nigel

[Guest Jameslark]

New cable and quadrant working as it should but pedal still soft. Pawl clicks as it should and tensions the cable but still nothing. fear there is something deeper that a mere quadrant. I have used washers to shorten the effective throw but still no joy. Any ideas please?

 

Also anyone know a good mechanic near Tonbridge who may care to do the job?

 

Thanks for all the help so far

 

James

[Guest mower man]

Just a random passing thought,when Ireplaced the clutch cable on my S7 it took me awhile to suss out that the pedal box top had to be in place and bolted up to stop the bulkhead flexing when the clutch pedal was pressed bolted every thing up ,it may not be the same but investigate along these lines HTH mower man